The Carl B. Stokes United States Court House is situated
on the west end of the famed Tower City Development at
the edge of the Central Business District overlooking
the Cuyahoga River. The court house is linked by an
indoor pedestrian walkway to the "Avenue at Tower City"
complex offering shopping, hotels, restaurants, movie
theaters and the Regional Transit Authority Station. The
facility is at the transition of the upper city and the
"Flats-Warehouse District" where burgeoning
entertainment and housing is developing.

BACKGROUND

On May 28,1997 the General Services
Administration broke ground for the first Federal court
house to be built in Cleveland in over 87 years and will
meet the federal courts’ space needs into the early
years of the 21st century. The structure has a gross
area of 727,000 square feet for courtrooms, judges
chambers, Clerk of the U. S. District Court, U. S.
Attorney, Probation Services, Pretrial Services, U. S.
Marshal Service, and other court related agencies.

DESIGN CONCEPT

Situated at the northeast corner of the site, the
building rises 22 stories, (430 feet) above its entrance
on Huron Road. The curved side overlooks the river.
Above the seventh floor, the juncture of the two flat
sides is clipped, forming a diagonal fourth wall
oriented to downtown and the Terminal Tower. The project
is one of the first in Cleveland using metric
measurement throughout construction. It also employs a
mat foundation as a cost saving alternative to drilling
deep caissons. The buildings entire 55,000 ton weight
rests on a 6-7 foot thick concrete mat. Pouring the mat
took approximately 1000 truckloads of cement, but was
about 60% of the cost of digging and pouring deep
caissons. The design, while visually relating to
neighboring
buildings, imparts a separate symbolic identity as a
court house. The roof line of the seven story base,
corresponding to the height of nearby buildings, is
sharply marked off with setbacks and cornices that
repeat the architecture of a previous era. The shaft,
accented with gray and light limestone, rises fifteen
levels above the base and is capped with a large,
distinctive abstraction of the cornices below.

Views from the courtroom lobbies in the high rise tower
look towards downtown
and the historic Howard M. Metzenbaum U. S. Court House
on Superior Avenue
built in 1910. Facing the corner of Huron Road and
Superior Avenue, the buildings
monumental entrance will feature a sculpture of Justice,
commissioned through
GSA’s Art-in-Architecture program. The new Carl B.
Stokes U. S. Court House is
considered a major addition to the Civic Structures in
Cleveland, and a distinguished addition to the Cleveland
skyline. The design will provide efficient and
economical workspace for the U. S. Courts and other
Federal Agencies. It is a “State of the Art“ facility
giving visual testimony to the enterprise, vigor, and
stability of the American Government.

The new facility houses the court and the court related
family of agencies. The
mix of courtrooms includes 10 District (including 1
special proceedings and 5
Senior Judge Courtrooms) and 6 Magistrate. The
Bankruptcy Court will remain in
the existing Courthouse. The building will accommodate
the 10-year growth
requirements of the United States District Courts with
potential to add space on
the same site in the future.

SITE PLAN

The new building is situated on a 5+
acre site overlooking the Cuyahoga River at Superior
Avenue and Huron Road. The address is 801 West Superior
Avenue. The site is a landmark location that anchors the
eastern end of a major redevelopment
corridor. The location of the building was carefully
considered to provide a secure setback yet maintain a
very identifiable public entry. Detailed study was given
to the scale of the building to the site in order to
establish a monumental building mass
without compromising the “view corridor”.